March 2, 2003	Sunday	Zul Hijjah 28, 1423

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PORT ELIZABETH (South Africa), March 1: Australia will bid for a record 12th consecutive victory in One-day Internationals without fast bowler Jason Gillespie when they face England in their final World Cup Group A match on Sunday.

Gillespie missed Australia’s last game against Namibia because of a sore right Achilles and, although he had been expected to return against England, he broke down during a net session on Saturday.

Australia, the only side to win all their games in the tournament, defeated Namibia by a record victory margin of 256 runs in Potchefstroom on Thursday, drawing level with West Indies, who won 11 one-dayers in a row in the mid-eighties.

“Jason’s problem is worse today than it was a couple of days ago,” Ponting told reporters after Saturday’s practice session.

“He was fine yesterday and keen to come down and have a good solid bowl today but he had a short bowl in the nets and had more pain than the other day.”

Despite Gillespie’s enforced absence, Ponting was keen to play down any suggestion of a long-term problem.

“It is not too much of a concern at this stage of the tournament,” he said. “We just thought it was in his and our best interests to give him a bit more time to get over it.”

With Gillespie missing out, Andy Bichel retains his place in the team while express pace bowler Brett Lee will again share the new ball with Glenn McGrath.

Lee’s recent form has been exceptional and he will go into the match against England after bowling his quickest ever spell, against Namibia, when he twice reached speeds of 158.8 kph.

Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar has already passed the 160 kph mark, but Ponting does not want Lee to focus too much on matching his fast bowling rival.

“Sure, I like Brett to bowl fast but I don’t want him to go out there with the sole intention of bowling as fast as he can, and I don’t think he will do that either,” he said.

“He has learnt a lot about himself and the best way to bowl in one-day cricket over the last couple of months and, although Shoaib has bowled at 160 kph, I don’t think Brett will be concerned about that tomorrow.”

Ponting would prefer his fast bowler’s focus to be on the two England openers, Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight, Lee having removed the pair of them in both finals of the recent tri-series in Australia.

“I think Brett has got a pretty good idea about how to bowl at them after the VB Series in Australia,” Ponting added.

“As the series went on, I think Brett learnt a lot about those two players and where he can and can’t bowl to them.”

A win over England on Sunday would be Australia’s 14th in a row over their oldest rivals in one-day cricket, a run stretching back to January 1999, as well as giving them the record for most consecutive victories in one-day cricket.

However, Ponting was keen to give the impression that ultimately the match was just another day at the office for the defending champions as they bid to become the first team to win the World Cup for a third time.

“It would be nice to achieve the record but I’m not one that worries about records or thinks about them,” he said.

“This is a nice one because it is a team record but it will look after itself if we play well.

“We had a team meeting this morning and it did not come up once, which is a good sign as it shows everyone is focused on doing a good job tomorrow.

“We have got a good record against England in the last three or four years since they last beat us in a one-day game, but a lot of hard work goes into that and we have got to make sure we do it all again tomorrow,” Ponting added.

Unbeaten Australia are already confirmed as winners of Group ‘A’ while England need to win on Sunday to guarantee a place in the Super Six, although they could still qualify if they lose and other results go their way.

Four England players who are set to feature in Sunday’s match — captain Nasser Hussain, wicket-keeper Alec Stewart, opener Nick Knight and spinner Ashley Giles — were all members of the team that beat Australia by seven runs in Sydney in 1999.

But what none of the England side that day could have known was that four years later they would still be looking for the follow-up win.

And Australia’s habit of winning close games continued when the sides last met in a One-day International, at Melbourne, in January.

Brad Hogg’s 71 and a devastating spell by Brett Lee, who finished with five for 30, ensured a five-run win for the hosts.

Teams:

AUSTRALIA: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann, Michael Bevan, Andrew Symonds, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Andy Bichel, Glenn McGrath.

ENGLAND (from): Nasser Hussain (captain), James Anderson, Ian Blackwell, Andrew Caddick, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Ronnie Irani, Nick Knight, Alec Stewart, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Craig White.

Umpires: Russell Tiffin (Zimbabwe) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan).

TV umpire: David Orchard (South Africa).

Match referee: Wasim Raja (Pakistan).—Reuters/AFP